Five Wellington club players in Umaga?s Asia Pacific Dragons side

Representative Rugby | 30 January 2015 | Steven White

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Update: The Western Force won this pre-season match 38-19.?

Five current or former Wellington club rugby players have been named in Tana Umaga’s 24-man squad to play the Western Force tomorrow in Perth.?

Umaga has selected current Tawa captain and 2014 Fijian international Taniela Koroi in the Dragons’ front row alongside former Avalon hooker Mahonri Schwalger.

Schwalger, also a former Wellington Lion and Hurricane, has played 40 Tests for Samoa, while Koroi made his international Test debut for Fiji against the USA Eagles in November.?

Oriental-Rongotai and Wellington Lions and Wellington Sevens blockbuster Afa Fa’atau will play on the left wing, while current Tawa midfielder and 2014 Wellington Lion Tu Umaga-Marshall will start in the reserves as backline cover.

Former Marist St Pat’s prop and now Bay of Plenty and Chiefs Development squad member Solomona Sakalia will also feature off the Dragons’ bench.

Coach Umaga played many years for Petone. Tana and his brother Mike Umaga once scored seven tries between them in a single Wellington club rugby Swindale Shield match.

The Asia Pacific Dragons is an invitational team made up of experienced and up-and-coming players from Asia and the Pacific Islands that have played at a standard of ITM Cup, Investec Super Rugby or Test rugby.

The Dragons were previously scheduled to play the Maori All Blacks in Singapore last November, but the match was cancelled owing to adverse pitch conditions.?

The Force line-up in this match features halfback Alby Mathewson, who played for Upper Hutt for several seasons before joining the Western Force via the Auckland Blues in 2013, and Pek Cowan who played junior rugby for Petone before moving to Australia and making the Wallabies in 2009.?

The Force beat the Brumbies 30-21 in their first Super Rugby warm-up fixture last weekend.The Force host the Hurricanes in Perth in round three on 28 February.?

1. Aki Seiuli

2. Mahonri Schwalger?

3. Taniela Koroi?

4. Michael Stolberg

5. Gerard Tuloti-Mariner

6. Peter Samu?

7. Tony Lamborn?

8. Matt Vaai?

9. Junior Poluleuligaga?

10. Michael Little?

11. Afa Fa’atau?

12. Karl Ropati?

13. Rico Gear?

14. Shannon Chase?

15. Willy Walker

16. Seilala Lam

17. Sam Aiono

18. Solomona Sakalia

19. Hale T-Pole

20. Onosai Auva’a?

21. Kurt Davies

22. James Faiva

23. Tu Umaga Marshall

24. Fa’autu Tuaimalo